For parents of lost soldier every day is Veterans Day

For Howard and Jean Somers, Tuesday wasn't Election Day. It was Veterans Day.

They don't wait until Nov. 11. For them, every day is Veterans Day.

They spent part of the evening Tuesday in the campaign headquarters of California Rep. Scott Peters. At the same time they were in contact with another Congress member, Susan Davis. And they were exchanging texts with Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and following the returns on Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick's race.

"These are all people who care about veterans, and so we were following all of them," Jean told me. "Although being this close to the campaign process was new to us. A lot of this has been new to us. That's the journey we're on."

Their odyssey began on June 10, 2013.

It's the day their smart, talented, creative, loving son, Daniel, a veteran, took his life.

He was living in Phoenix at the time. Daniel Somers served two tours in Iraq. While there he suffered a traumatic brain injury. He returned to the states with post-traumatic stress disorder.

His story is not unlike the story of many returning vets. He was unable get his claims for relief adequately processed by officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs. He gave up trying. Then he just gave up. For Howard and Jean, every day since his death has been Veterans Day.

Daniel was a musician and a music producer. He was married. He adored his family and his wife, Angel. But he couldn't continue. He left behind a long, heart-breaking letter that went viral on the Internet.

The letter begins:

"I am sorry that it has come to this.

"The fact is, for as long as I can remember my motivation for getting up every day has been so that you would not have to bury me. As things have continued to get worse, it has become clear that this alone is not a sufficient reason to carry on. The fact is, I am not getting better, I am not going to get better, and I will most certainly deteriorate further as time goes on. From a logical standpoint, it is better to simply end things quickly and let any repercussions from that play out in the short term than to drag things out into the long term."

Howard and Jean don't want any other parents to have to read a message like that. They don't want any other veterans to struggle getting help. So they decided to do something about it.

Since their son's death they've traveled extensively on behalf of veterans. They've spoken to and worked with elected officials, pushing them to expand care and benefits for veterans. They've consulted with physicians. They've worked with the military and with representatives of the VA.

When I spoke to them last year on Veterans Day they were in New York City, having been asked by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to participate in the parade there. This year they'll be in Washington, D.C.

"We've been told that because of the elections, and with the Senate going Republican, nothing is likely to happen in Congress until after January," Jean told me. "That's disappointing. But we'll carry on."

The couple is meeting with members of Congress and others next week. They're attending a ceremony at the Pentagon. They're participating in a major health foundation program aimed at trying to give doctors who don't work for the VA a better understanding of issues facing returning vets.

"Someone told us recently that they recall Howard and I saying early on that we weren't going away, that we were going to stick with this," Jean said. "We feel like we couldn't stop even if we wanted to. There are so many really good ideas out there that need a push -- someone carrying the banner. If our faces can do that that then we are willing to help."

It all goes back to something Howard Somers told me not long after his son's death.

"We're trying to do what he would have wanted us to do -- save others in his situation," Howard said. "That's his legacy. This probably sounds really trite, but Daniel's last mission turned into our mission."